Korean drama
Korean drama ( ; ) or K-drama refers to televised dramas ( ; ) in the Korean language, made in South Korea. Korean dramas are extremely popular and influential worldwide, partially due to the spread of the "Korean Wave", with streaming services that offer multiple language subtitles, adaptations throughout the world, as well as behavioural and cultural impact on other countries. Some of the most famous dramas have been broadcast via traditional television channels; for example, Dae Jang Geum (2003) was sold to 91 countries. Format South Korea started to broadcast television series in the 1960s. In the 1990s, traditional historical series transformed into present miniseries format, creating the notion of fusion sageuks, which refers to any Korean television or film drama that is either based on historical figures, incorporates historical events, or uses a historical backdrop. While technically the word sageuk literally translates to "historical drama," the term is typically reserved for dramas taking place during Korean history. Korean dramas are usually helmed by one director and written by one screenwriter, thus having a distinct directing style and language, unlike American television series, where often several directors and writers work together. Series set in contemporary times usually run for one season, for 12−24 episodes of 60 minutes each. Historical series may be longer, with 50 to 200 episodes, but they also run for only one season. In 2017, MBC and SBS started splitting some of their series' hour-long episodes into two 35-minute episodes, though still airing both on the same night, to circumvent Korean laws and be able to air a commercial in the break between the episodes."Viewers angry over commercial breaks" — The Korea Times Korean dramas are usually shot within a very tight schedule, often a few hours before actual broadcast. Screenplays are flexible and may change anytime during production, depending on viewers' feedback, putting actors in a difficult position. Production companies often face financial issues. The broadcast time for dramas is 22:00 to 23:00, with episodes on two consecutive nights: Mondays and Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and weekends. Different dramas appear on each of the nationwide networks, Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS), Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) and on the cable channels, Joongang Tongyang Broadcasting Company (jtbc), Channel A, tvN, and Orion Cinema Network (OCN). The 19:00 to 20:00 evening time slot is usually for daily dramas that run from Monday through Friday. Dramas in these slots are in the telenovela format, rarely running over 200 episodes. Unlike the American soap operas, these daily dramas are not also scheduled during the day-time. Instead, the day-time schedule often includes reruns of the flagship dramas. The night-time dailies can achieve very high ratings. History Radio broadcasting, including the broadcasting of radio dramas in Korea, began in 1927 under Japanese rule, with most programming in Japanese and around 30% in Korean. After the Korean War, radio dramas such as Cheongsilhongsil (1954) reflected the country's mood. Television broadcasting began in 1956 with the launch of an experimental station, HLKZ-TV, which was shut down a few years later due to a fire. The first national television channel was Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), which started up in 1961. The network aired the first television series in 1962. In the 1960s, television sets were of limited availability, thus dramas could not reach a larger audience. In the 1970s, television sets started to spread among the general population, and dramas switched from portraying dramatic historical figures to introducing national heroes like Lee Sun-shin or Sejong the Great. Contemporary series dealt with personal sufferings, such as influential Stepmother (새엄마, Saeeomma), aired by Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) in 1972 and 1973. As technology and funding was limited, Korean channels could not make series in resource-heavy genres like action and science fiction; American and other foreign series were imported instead. The 1980s saw a turn in Korean television, as color TV became available. Modern dramas tried to evoke nostalgia from urban dwellers by depicting rural life. Kim Soo-hyun's first real commercial success, Love and Ambition (사랑과 야망, Saranggwa yamang), aired on MBC in 1987 is regarded as a milestone of Korean television, having recorded a 78% viewership. The most outstanding classical historical series of the era is considered to be 500 Years of Joseon (조선왕조500년, Joseonwangjo 500 nyeon), a serial that ran for eight years, consisting of 11 separate series. The serial was produced by Lee Byung-hoon, who later directed one of the biggest international successes of Korean drama, Dae Jang Geum. The 1990s brought another important milestone for Korean television. As technology developed, new opportunities arose, and the beginning of the decade marked the launch of a new commercial channel: Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS), which facilitated and re-initiated a race for catching viewers' attention. The first real commercial success among Korean television series was Eyes of Dawn (여명의 눈동자, Yeomyeongui nundongja), which led the viewers through turbulent times from the Japanese rule to the Korean War. SBS also produced a number of successful series, one of them being Sandglass in 1995—a "trendy drama", which the considers an important milestone, having changed the way Korean dramas are made by introducing a new format. In this decade, the new miniseries format became widespread, with 12 to 24 episodes. This era marked the start of export for Korean dramas, setting off the Korean Wave ( ; ; but more commonly romanized as Hallyu), a neologism literally meaning "flow of Korea" that refers to the increase in global popularity of South Korean culture since the 1990s. First driven by the spread of K-dramas and K-pop across East, South, and Southeast Asia during its initial stages, the Korean Wave evolved from a regional development into a global phenomenon, carried by the Internet and social media and the proliferation of K-pop music videos on YouTube. The beginning years of the 2000s gave birth to a new genre, called "fusion sageuk", essentially changing the ways to produce historical series. Production Budget Korean series were originally produced in house by the television channels themselves, but have been outsourced to independent production companies since the 2000s. In 2012, as much as 75% of all K-dramas were produced this way. Competition is fierce among these companies; out of 156 registered firms, only 34 produced dramas were actually aired in 2012. The budget of the production is shared between the producing company and the broadcaster, with the broadcasting channel covering around 50% of expenses usually. If top stars and famous scriptwriters are employed, they may cover even more. The rest of the budget has to be brought in by the production company with the help of sponsors. In the case of product placements, income is shared by the producer and the channel. The channel keeps 100% of the advertisement income during airtime; this could amount to 300-400 million. A typical Korean drama may cost as much as ₩250 million per episode, and historical dramas cost more than that. In Korea, much of the budget is spent on the appearance fees of top stars. In some cases, the actors may take up as much as 55-65% of the whole budget. Everything else, including salaries of lesser-known actors, extras, and technical staff, location rent and other expenses, have to be covered from the remaining amount. Often, production companies overrun their budgets and cannot pay salaries. Actors are usually paid after the last episode is aired at the end of the month. In series made by smaller production companies for cable channels, there have been cases where the companies went bankrupt and could not pay their actors and crew, while the channel denied all responsibility, claiming all liability was with the bankrupt production firm. The biggest stars may earn as much as ₩100 million per episode. Shooting As producing a series involves high expenses, production companies seek to shoot the episodes in the shortest time possible. In contrast to practices elsewhere, the first four episodes of Korean series are usually shot in advance, but the rest are shot continuously as the series is being aired. Scripts are not finished in advance, and may change according to viewer feedback and viewership ratings. These changes may occur a few hours before daily shooting, and the crew might receive only a few ready pages. The production usually works with three camera crews, who work in a rotating manner to speed up filming. Because of unregulated script changes and tight shooting schedules, actors are almost continuously on standby, and have no time to leave the set or sleep properly. The Korean media have a separate word to describe irregular, short sleeps that actors resort to, in often uncomfortable positions, or within the set: jjok-jam (쪽잠), or "side-sleeping". Dramas usually air two episodes a week, one after the other, with the following episodes having to be shot within the intervening five days. Some Korean actors have admitted to receiving IV therapy during filming, due to extreme schedules and exhaustion. Production teams originally sent two tapes to the channels; a primary copy and a backup copy. However, due to the tight filming schedules, a 70-minute episode might arrive at the broadcasting station on seven separate tapes in ten-minute installments. It happens that while the episode is being broadcast, the crew would be still shooting the last minutes or cutting the rest of the episode. During the airing of the nineteenth episode of Man from the Equator, screens countrywide went black for 10 minutes. Actor Kwon Sang-woo was openly complaining that he was still shooting Queen of Ambition 30 minutes before the last episode began airing. In South Korea, some production teams still do planning and scheduling manually, instead of using dedicated software. From late 2015 onwards due to the popularity of Korean dramas abroad, pitching and pre-selling the overseas broadcast and streaming rights of their dramas. This has given production teams the budget to move away form the live shoot basis to one in which the drama is completed before broadcast. In 2016, some dramas began to adopt the pre-produced before airing format. The larger broadcasting companies have their own dedicated shooting locations for historical dramas, with extensive and elaborate sets. MBC's series are shot at in Gyeonggi, while KBS dramas utilize the Mungyeongsaejae Studio (문경새재 KBS촬영장) in North Gyeongsang and their studio in Suwon. Crew The leading actors of Korean dramas have become popular outside of South Korea, due to the Korean Wave. In the 2000s, it became customary to cast popular K-pop idols in dramas. Their critical reception is mixed, however, some of them became successful as actors. Scriptwriters and directors of Korean dramas are often as well known as actors are. An overwhelming majority of scriptwriters (90% according to the Beijing Metro Reader) are women, who not only write love stories but action series as well. Korean cinema, television is more appealing for scriptwriters as contract conditions are better, acknowledgment is greater, and the salary is higher. While scriptwriters are mostly women, directors are usually men. Famous scriptwriters tend to have a say in their field. The most well-known scriptwriters include the Hong sisters, Kim Eun-sook, Lee Kyung-hee, Choi Wan-kyu, Noh Hee-kyung, and Park Ji-eun. Acknowledged TV directors include Lee Byung-hoon, Kim Jong-hak, and Pyo Min-soo. Music Music plays an important role in Korean dramas. Original soundtracks (OST), are explicitly made for each series. This trend started in the 1990s, when producers swapped purely instrumental soundtracks for songs performed by popular K-pop singers. During the 2000s, it became customary for lead actors to participate in original soundtracks, also partially due to the employment of K-pop stars as actors. OST songs of popular K-dramas can also become hits on regular music charts, with good sales of both physical and digital albums. The chart performance of the OST songs usually co-relate to the popularity of the drama. OST composers usually look for singers who have previously had success in the genre. Songs are written to reflect the mood of the series and their structure. Sometimes performers give their own songs for a series. Sometimes, foreign singers are invited to perform songs for Korean OST. Rating system The television rating system is regulated by the Korea Communications Commission, and was implemented in 2000. According to the system, Korean dramas, are rated according to the following principles (listed are only three of six ratings, these being the most applicable and relevant): * Programs that may be inappropriate for children under 12, such as mild violence, themes or language. * Programs that may be inappropriate for children under 15. Most dramas and talk shows are rated this way. These programs may include moderate or strong adult themes, language, sexual inference, and violence. * Programs intended for adults only. These programs might include adult themes, sexual situations, frequent use of strong language and disturbing scenes of violence. References Category:K-Dramas